As a first year student, your biggest anxiety often comes from the inevitable possibility of living with a stranger for a full semester. Most likely, you haven’t been away from home for much other than summer camp or a class field trip – a month at most. So what are the most legendary apprehensions about living with a roommate, and are they valid? Read below to find out.
1. The town bike.
Most students are plagued with fears of having that one roommate akin to the town bike; everybody rides her. There is nothing more awkward than the thought of walking in on your roommate in the middle of doing the deed, and it’s a natural fear. For most, this is their first experience without parental supervision and rules, so it’s natural to be tempted to take advantage of those freedoms. However, the number of students that make sex an extracurricular is highly exaggerated. If you worry about this happening with your dwelling cohabitant, be sure to discuss with them how to avoid these situations and how to communicate that they’re happening. It’s entirely possible your roommate might have the same fear, and is too shy to bring it up. You’ll save yourself the shattered eyesight and save your roommate the embarrassment.
2. Have you heard of water?
Perhaps you’ve heard stories of the legendary college parties, or horror stories of the roommate whose body content is 80% alcohol. Your main concern is that your roommate might stumble into your room in the middle of the night and pass out in a heaping pool of their own vomit. Who wants to spend their weekend evenings caring for and cleaning up after their drunken roommate? While we can’t speak for specific campus numbers, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that on average, four out of five college students drink. However, this does not mean that those percentages drink excessively. If you have any concerns about alcohol in your room or having to care for your irresponsible roommate, be sure to speak up. Most students desire to maintain a good relationship with their roommates, and won’t cross that line if the boundary is set. If your roommate is unaffected, contacting your RA can be an easy fix to this problem.
3. The nightly nuisance.
Sleep is a blissful thing in college, and often hard to come by. Between the all-nighters we pull to finish our homework and the presence of sixteen dorms with paper thin walls, all within hearing distance, napping becomes our favorite daily passtime. If you’re a light sleeper, dorm life can be dreadful. What if your roommate snores? Or if they toss and turn all night? Or if they like to entertain friends in your room until the wee hours of the morning . . . you might never sleep again. Unfortunately on this one, there is no amount of relief we can give you. Getting paired with a roommate that compliments your sleeping hours and style is sheer luck. However, with a few adjustments, you can start to sleep like a baby again: invest in earplugs and an eye mask.
4. What’s that smell?
This is quite possibly the worst short straw you could draw. Everybody fears that roommate that showers on a bi-weekly basis. It’s why we’ve made wallflowers and air fresheners such a necessity for dorm life. Maybe yours will sweat in their sleep, or they’ll believe deoderant is *cringe* optional. The truth is, even if their hygiene might have been poor at home, the importance of making a good impression in your first venture on your own greatly outweighs the desire to swim in your own stench. Keep in mind, your potential future roommate is probably just as concerned about you as you are them.
5. Sticky fingers.
You work so hard to have all the right things to bring with you to college. Needless to say, a dorm isn’t the most secure dwelling on the planet. Anything you bring into your dorm is privvy to wandering hands and unpermitted uses. So many friends and neighbors will cross your threshold during the day and you don’t even know it. If your greatest fear is the potential misuse and/or destruction of your property, set the ground rules the day you move in. Your roommate has probably got some apprehensions of her own about her valuables. Discuss what is okay for them to use, what you’d rather keep to yourself, and when it’s appropriate to use certain items.